


Persona: Converging Paths

by fcwe1113



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29546214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fcwe1113/pseuds/fcwe1113
Summary: It is the year 2019, and Hasegawa Akane is just starting her second year of high school. With the demons of her past laid to rest, Akane tries to start her school life for real this time. However, as time went on, things went towards an unexpected direction... P5S Spoilers
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Persona: The Sougawa Files](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831952) by [Arsene_Phantom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arsene_Phantom/pseuds/Arsene_Phantom). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to my first story ever, featuring Akane 2 years after the events of P5S. Those who haven’t played P5S should go play it first, since it will be easier to understand the story with Akane not being a blank slate in your mind. But it should also be fine if that’s the case. With this being my first story ever, please don’t expect much, if you like the idea enough, and have enough freetime (which you should, unless you are medical personnel), consider betaing this for me since my fictional writing sucks balls. Enough berating myself, please enjoy!

2019/3/31

Scrubbing my eyes, I woke up noticing the train was stopped at a station.

“Akane.” Dad saw me waking up “we still have an hour left to go, you could sleep some more.”

I yawned heavily “I didn’t wake up by choice you know”

Dad just pats my head “I can guess, but you are quite tired from the trip isn’t, you better rest up for school tomorrow.”

I yawned again, thinking back to the trip to Tokyo we just had. We met up with Makoto-chan and Futaba-chan and the others, we even got to meet with Yoshizawa-san, who was said to be rather busy doing gymnastics overseas. She is quite the well-mannered girl, but I guess I am too shy to call her by her First name.

Fatigue took me away while I thought back towards the trip, and as dad soothe my hair.

\---------------------------

I woke up not in the train, but in some sort of big blue room, where everything is in dark velvet blue. A number of glowing holographic panels surround me while I get a hold of myself, some indecipherable words are on it. I am apparently in the middle of the room, indicated by a large circle shaped bench with a big V on the floor, along with some stairs to get out of the circle. Then I noticed a man sitting across me.

He is wearing a suit with black tie, bald on top with some white hair on the side, both his eyes are bulging out like they’d fall out any second, a Pinocchio-style long nose, and an abnormally wide grin. Needless to say, I pinched my face rather hard to test my sanity “Oww, I’m not dreaming? But how...”

“Hehehehe, no need to be so confused, my dear guest” he speaks while cackling through his grin.

 _I dunno, my brain tells me he’s bad news but my heart says otherwise, but that nose though…_ I decide to not panic, and ask him some questions “Hello, I am Hasegawa Akane, who are you?”

He made his grin larger _As if it wasn’t large enough_ “It’s good to see our guests are all composed, as per usual.” He stood up and cleared his throat before continuing “My name is Igor, I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”

His voice somehow both creeps me out and make me feel at home at the same time, which I didn’t think it’s even possible.

It was at this moment I noticed that there is a window behind Igor. I pointed my finger at it “Is that space?” He nodded “Yes.” I continued “Are we on a spaceship?” He nodded “Yes.” My brain kind of short circuited, it was beyond my imagination. Seriously a spaceship? Why would I even dream about it? “Can you tell me how I can not be confused?” I asked Igor, looking for any answers at this point. He said calmly “I will explain everything, maybe not now, but please be assured that i will do it down the road. Don’t worry”

I took a deep breath, and told Igor “Alright, please do.” In which he did explain a lot “Firstly, I must welcome you to the Velvet Room, it’s a place existing between dream and reality, mind and matter. As a matter of fact you are in your dream right now.” I tilted my head in confusion “But pinching myself didn’t work?” He cackled again “While this is a dream, this isn’t just any other dream, so your normal ways don’t work here. Moving on, do you believe in fortune telling?”

 _Fortune telling?_ “Um... I haven’t tried it yet.” He magically summoned a deck of cards, and shuffled it without touching the cards. And drawed a card from the top “Let’s see how your immediate future looks like… It’s the Emperor arcana in the upright position, symbolizing the will to control one’s surroundings, and maybe failure to do so.”

 _I had expected it to tell me that I will screw up big time, but I guess I can live with that._ That got me curious “What about after that? Can you tell?” He drew another card from the top, and looked at the card for a second “Hmm… Interesting, the Hanged Man arcana in the upright position. It represents self-sacrifice for the sake of enlightenment. While there are other more positive interpretations, this is the most common interpretation of this card.”

I went speechless for a second, _Never heard a reading this precise before, Is it actually true?_ “Is that a good or bad thing?” I asked nervously. To which he said “It would depend on your ability to seize your ability to achieve said enlightenment.” I reconfirmed with him “So what you mean is to be careful, right?” He nodded “You are correct.”

_I guess that’s not too bad of a reading, I had expected him to go much more vague._

Igor then summoned a clipboard with a paper on it “If you want to make use of our services in the future, you will need to sign the contract here. Please note that our services aren't limited to fortune telling only, but forgive me I can’t delve into this right now.”

I took the clipboard from his hands, and noticed the mostly empty paper contract only has one condition.

_“I will accept full responsibility for my actions.”_

_That’s it?_ I thought that it’s weird, but the whole dream is already pretty weird. And I signed it without much delay. The clipboard and the contract vanished into the light the second i signed my name on it.

“Excellent.” Igor fiddling with his fingers like an evil mastermind “You are now officially a guest of the velvet room.”

Suddenly there’s a beeping sound coming from the spaceship.

“Ah, but it seems like we ran out of time.” Igor clarified “We will talk later.”

“Uh, wha-” Before I can even ask a question, my view went pitch black.

\---------------------------

2019/4/1

I woke up on my bed with my outdoor clothes on, And sensing someone’s stench instantly _Ugh, who’s smell is that?_ I also had quite the headache as I heard dad was whispering something inside my ear “Wakey wakey Akane, it’s time for school.”

I rolled my eyes at him “Look dad, I got a headache and it’s not because of you treating me like a preschooler.”

Dad laughed quite loudly “I know, you get a headache because you slept way too much.” I tilted my head in confusion as he continued “When we arrived at Kyoto station last night, I couldn’t wake you up no matter what, so I carried you on my back from the station to your bed.”

I Blushed from the implications of being carried on his back, and he just snickered “Well you better take a bath before going to school, you stink.” I held my clothes for a sniff “That’s MY stench?” I quickly ran to get my uniform and rushed towards the bathroom.

\---------------------------

Dad offered to drive me to school every day he could, but we got into an argument, and in the end we decided to only do it for the first day. And here I am, in his car, driving to school.

I am wearing my winter uniform right now. With a button up shirt inside of a dark purple coat, with the school’s emblem on the left side of my chest, I’m also wearing a blue knee-length skirt, with white socks and a black shoe. I also have a small black and white bird mask shaped hair clip on the left side of my brown short hair. If you are wondering if that is breaking the rules, then the answer is no.

“Couldn’t believe you would reject my offer to drive you to school. You don’t get these everyday you know.”

 _Here we go, trying to change my mind again_ “If I didn’t take the same offer last year, why would I take it now when I’m a second year?”

“I don’t know, maybe you want more time at school?” Dad tried to justify his stance

And of course I am having none of that “Yea, no.”

We had a moment of silence as the radio talked about something about a bill.

_“In other news, the rather divisive Immigrant Expansion Act has been implemented for 3 years now. The original intent of the act was to combat Aging Population and bring economic growth, but the positive impacts of this act, for now, are mediocre at best. The government has said that they will be closely monitoring if there are negative effects caused for this bill. While a large part of the population does think the act will help tackle the problems it is made to tackle, there are some citizens who are critical of the act and campaign to have it repealed.”_

“Oh right, there’s that as well. Are you looking forward to having foreign classmates this year? I heard the school took in quite a few this year.”

I thought for a sec “Well, nothing bad happened last year when they came, so i don’t think that there’s a reason to assume they meant trouble. In fact I guess I'm more looking forward to it than others. How about you, what do you think about this bill?”

Dad replied without much thought “Well, I’m neutral towards them, that’s my job you know? But I guess the biggest problem is the people opposing the bill, they might get more violent to try and overturn the bill.”

I half-joked at him “That would also mean more work for you, isn’t it?”

He then feigned ignorance “Why, how do you know.” I glared at him ”Sass me some more and I'll ignore you for a week.”

He immediately backpedals “I kid, I kid. I just want to make you less anxious.”

I retorted instantly “I’m not!”

\---------------------------

Sooner or later, we arrived at the school.

“Come back earlier tonight, I’m going to make dinner.” Dad declared

“Yeah, I’m going to not look forward to it.”

He protested “Hey, don’t just shoot me down for no reason!”

I opened the car door while answering him “We’ll see.”

 _He’s such a nag sometimes._ I thought as I walked towards the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you ask, I finished the game five months ago with a non-english version, that’s why this is out before the english version of P5S.
> 
> It might yet not be apparent, but the start of the story is somewhat similar to Emerald by WhiteFangofWhoa. ( https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12745804/1/Emerald ) However after the start, the two stories are going to diverge, and much like how every persona game tackles a central theme, I also have a central theme for this story, it’s not hard to guess, so no prizes for anyone who does in the comments.
> 
> This story is also heavily inspired by Persona: The Sougawa Files by Arsene_Phantom ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/14831952/chapters/34327386 ), and thus will be a sort of original take on the persona formula with an already established character as the protag. I will update the story weekly, unless I have IRL stuff to deal with or I procrastinate too much, please look forward to it!
> 
> Lastly, due to the nature of this story and it’s comments on real world events, NO POLITICS is allowed in the comments, you will see why in a few chapters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that scr-strikers is finally out, I can finally see how the official translation is. By the way, didn't expect they added an english version credits, like at all. They never did this before, and I think it's pretty cool that they did. anyways, let's start the chapter!

The School I attend is Nijou High School, which is just one of the many run of a mill high school in Kyoto, except that the Nijou castle is visible in the school, because it’s just next door. I never like it or hate it, it’s just there all the time. But it does add a distinct feel to the school.

Because of my investigations the year before last year, that left me no time to study, therefore I focused on that front last year. It did three things. one is that I got the top spot of my class last year, second is that I'm known as the bookworm of the class, lastly is that I had literally no social connections last year, which is something I wish to remedy this year.

Since the classes will change this year, I can have a fresh start. Therefore, I did what I could to make myself presentable. I put on a serious face, look straight ahead with determination, changed my shoes effortlessly, and spotted a black haired girl standing inside looking for something.

How did I know? She was swinging her head around like mad, and looking quite scared. So I tapped her shoulders lightly so as to not scare her, which she did for a sec, but quickly covered that with an easygoing smile. She is slightly shorter than me, has silky long black hair flowing down her back, brownish eyes, a cute face, and a bust a little bit large for her body.

_ “ _ Looking for something?” I asked politely, she answered politely in turn “Hello, I’m new here and I want to know where can I see which class I’m in?”

Noticing the rookie mistake, I pointed it out “Well you see, they have what you need on the front door, and this is the back door.”

_ “ _ Ooooohhhhh” she realized her mistake instantly “Mind taking me there?” twirling her hair while asking.

As the nice girl that I am trying to be, I accepted with an “Of course.”

While we are walking, I thought we might as well have a little chit-chat “So… I’m Hasegawa Akane, what’s your name?”

She introduced herself in high spirits “Oh, I’m Hinata Shika. Nice to meet you! I guess you are my senpai, right?”

I was a little taken aback by her enthusiasm,  _ Seriously this is quite the bubbly girl “ _ That’s right, I’m in class 2B”

She replied “Oh really, well I’m in class I don’t know yet.”

I giggled at her blunt joke “Well, that’s what we are going to find out now is it not? Speaking of which… There it is” I pointed at the paper listing the classes of first year students.

Shika went over to find her name “I’m in class 1A, and uhhh...” sensing what she wanted to ask, I proposed instead “Do you need me to take you there?” She slightly blushed “Well, guilty as charged.” I slapped my hand on her shoulder “Don’t look so down, everyone has their first time.” That made her calm down, as we walked towards class 1A.

We engaged in some small talk, just to know each other better. While she is just like any normal high school girl, she seems different, somehow. With the events just now notwithstanding, she is quite relaxed despite this being her first day, too relaxed in fact. Still, we became fast friends.

As we arrived outside of classroom 1A, Shika bowed towards me “Thanks for taking me here, Akane-senpai” my hand waved in front of me “Eh, it’s nothing.”

Shika then took out her phone “Why don’t we exchange contacts?” I took out my phone in turn “Why not?”

We exchanged contacts and heard the jingle indicating the transfer finished, she looked at me squinting her eyes and smirking at me “So, senpai is a loner?”

_ well, she’s not wrong “ _ I guess? But i plan to rectify that soon.”

She put on a devilish smile “Well, count on me to keep that a secret.”

I rolled my eyes at her antics “Yeah, thanks. That must be so hard for you.”

She laughed at my response “Glad you understand.” I waved goodbye as she entered the classroom.  _ Can’t believe my first friend would be a kouhai. But beggars can’t be choosers, and it’s not like she’s someone bad, if anything she is going to be pretty fun to hang out with. _

\---------------------------

A place to sit was found when I went into my classroom. And since I had nothing else to do, I looked around to see if there was anyone special here, of which I found two. One has nothing special except for his tanner skin, and the other is a white foreigner with auburn orange hair strapped into a ponytail.  _ Well, I did expect some of them in my class, but i didn’t think that we’d only have one. But let’s not be judgemental here just with her looks. _

Sooner or later, a teacher walked in with a folder, and spoke with a confident voice. “Hello everyone, I am Fujiwara Katsunaga, and I teach history. I will also be in charge of this class, which is class 2B. Now does anyone who isn’t class 2B wandered in here?” following a period of silence, he continued “Good, I’ll take that as a no. Well then let’s get the housekeeping business out of the way” He then randomly points to a student “Would you mind being the one on duty today?”

The housekeeping stuff Katsunaga mentioned was quite boring, to the point where I didn’t even bother to remember any of it. Next he called up everyone one by one to the front of the classroom for self-introduction.  _ Ugh, why did it always end with me being stage fright? I did this last year no problem! _

It was soon the turn for the tan skinned boy. He walked onto the podium and introduced himself 

His upper body gave the impression that he did some serious training, his eyes are grey, and while his face is not one to impress, he does look much better with his skin being tanner, giving off the strong man look. He also sports dark brown hair with a rather messy hair style, fitting for his athletic look.

_ “ _ I am Eisaku Miura, I am 16 years old, and I like football, it was nice to meet you all.”

Nothing off was felt from him. _ Hmmm, not much to be said. Maybe he didn’t do sunscreen? _

I kept getting more and more afraid as time goes on  _ Ugh, just call out my name and be done with it already!  _ Internally I yelled at myself for being such a wimp when it comes to the stage, I seriously am not impressed at myself on this front. Luckily it’s the foreigner girl’s turn, and I used this time to distract myself from being scared.

The girl looks foreign born, has a pretty face with blueish green eyes, with some very light freckles on her cheeks that are rather hard to see from the naked eye. She also has a normally sized bust, and a slim figure. Along with the auburn hair, making her give off an exotic feeling.

She wrote her name in both the Latin script and Katakana “Good morning, my name is Matilda Olsson, I’m from Sweden, I am 17 years old, and my hobbies are reading and going to museums. It’s nice to meet you all.”

Her features aside, what surprises me the most about her is her Japanese, it sounds almost exactly like how a native would, while not perfect, it’s still pretty amazing.  _ Though I gotta say, what did she mean by going to museums? Definitely don’t see that everyday. _

I had thought that would do the job, but of course not. After her turn, I immediately went back to panic mode,  _ because I suck at this so much. _ Sooner or later, it’s my turn,  _ ok Akane, you can do this.  _ I went up to the podium, took a deep breath, and made the best smile I could “Hello everyone, I am Hasegawa Akane, I’m 16 years old, I like to cook and jog around the city. I hope we can get along.”

\---------------------------

This is the first day of school, and the school let us go early today. As I leave the classroom, I notice my phone is vibrating.

HS: Can you tour me around the neighbourhood? I would want to get to know what’s around the school.

HA: sure, no problem

HA: meet you by the gate?

HS: gud

HA: see you there

And so I stopped at the school gate and waited for her, which I didn’t need to wait for long, as she practically dashed out of the school. I waved at her “So, how’s your first day?”

Shika made a zombie impression “bored to death?” I giggled at her colourful answer “As expected, shall we get going?”

We went through the streets one by one, introducing her to the stores as we walked by, granted I didn’t walk through them a lot last year, but I did my best to fulfill her request.

After some time, we walked into another street, and I pointed my finger at a store “This is a pretty good Takoyaki stand, it became the hot thing in school for a while when it opened around a year ago. Wanna give it a try?”

She shrugged her shoulders “Why not?” She then went over and bought two servings of Takoyaki while I found a place to sit. She poked a stick into a Takoyaki and threw it into her mouth, she chewed it a little and gulped it down in one go “mmm… I dunno, it’s not what I expected it to taste like.”

_ “ _ Really?” I then also tried one, and I felt it to be a little bitter than usual, but not in a way like it felt wrong, it’s actually matching with the saltiness of the rest of the Takoyaki, in a way I had never thought possible.  _ Experimenting time it is then... _

_ “ _ It’s actually not bad, if anything I felt intrigued how did they manage to make the bitter taste work with the salty Takoyaki” I explained my thoughts out loud, and she seems to agree “I know, I had never tasted something this oddly good at all.”

We finished the rest of our Takoyaki and moved on with our plans, as our next stop is Nijou station. First we went to the arcade, which has basically anything you would ever want in an arcade. “I don’t like the arcade a lot though, it’s too noisy for my tastes.” I explained to her “So don’t expect me to tell you what these games are.” Shika responded with something I didn’t expect. “Actually I can introduce them to you instead, I got all the high scores over at the arcade near where I live.”

_ I thought she would be the gossipy girl type, guess I’m the idiot assuming that. “ _ Maybe later, but you are not the person that can be deciphered from the outside huh?” She replied rather courtly with a smile “Like your one to talk, Akane-senpai.”

We walked around some more around the station and got her to know the place. Shika looked out into the sun setting “Hey, Akane-senpai. Wanna find a bite to eat?”

_ “ _ Sorry, but my dad’s going to cook tonight, maybe next time.” Shika looked bummed out “Oh well that can’t be helped. See you then.” We waved goodbye at each other, and went home.

\---------------------------

_ “ _ I’m back!” I announced as I opened the door and smelled something nice “Obanzai?”

_ “ _ Correct.” answered my dad, as he’s cooking in front of the stove.

“Not again, dad, make literally anything else for once!” I yelled

Dad calmly explained “Well, it’s easy to prepare, and it’s ingredients are cheap.”

I smirked while I filled in for him “And also that’s the only legitimate dish you can make with some level of competence, am I right?”

That pissed him off “Hey, don’t be disrespectful to your father! Come here and let me teach you some manners!”

I looked at the pan, and looked back at him “Yea yea, but don’t overcook that fish or else what competence you have left making Obanzai will be gone.” I then calmly walked inside my room and locked the door.

\---------------------------

_ The Phantom Thieves’ chat room _

Wolf: Ugh, got dissed by Akane again.

Joker: Shouldn’t you get used to it already?

Wolf: Yea I know, but it still doesn’t feel good.

Violet: Give it more time, one day she will come to her senses.

Wolf: I don’t know if I have that time before she goes to university.

Oracle: But that won’t make you give up, right?

Wolf: yeah, you’re right.

Queen: By the way, Today is Akane-chan’s first day being a second year right?

Noir: Oh right, is it already that time?

Skull: Didn’t take noir to be someone who have so much free time

Noir: Well, I did plan out my schedule beforehand to leave work out of night time as much as I can

Panther: Unlike someone

Oracle: Unlike some1

Skull: Can it, both of you

Sophie: attending high school does mean a lot to one’s personal growth.

Fox: It’s that time again, where the young bear fruit and create great works of art with their new found friends

Violet: Fox, please stop, I’m not gonna be able to sleep well tonight if you don’t

Joker: I agree

Panther: You only agree because it’s her right?

Joker: Of course, she IS my girlfriend after all

Joker: Good thing we are in the same university, I can see how cute she is everyday

Violet: You’re even worse than fox!

Skull: Get a room you two

Joker: Will do, I appreciate your concern

Wolf: Sometimes I wonder should I let her go near you guys, I wonder did she got her sassy attitude from you guys. Among other things.

Sophie: Considering sass is not that uncommon amongst humans, I don’t think it would necessarily be on us.

Joker: Sophie is right, that’s your war, not ours ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

Wolf: This is what I mean, you guys are such bad influences, maybe I should not visit that often from now on.

Skull: Well considering that almost all of us are in university, what’s stopping us from waltzing down to Kyoto just to catch up?

Oracle: Are you impersonating skull? I’m gonna boot you out of the chatroom

Joker: Mona says: nice

Skull: Somehow I see wolf’s point now

Queen: Come on guys, we are here to check up on Akane-chan right?

Wolf: Well she seems cheerful enough, I’m gonna ask some more during dinner.

Violet: Hope she is doing ok

Panther: I’m sure she will be

Joker: She is much stronger than you think she is

Sophie: Parent’s do need to trust their children for them to grow, I do speak from personal experience.

Wolf: Yeah you don’t need to remind me of her

Sophie: Speaking of her, do you know she’s in Kyoto right now?

Wolf: Right now?

Sophie: Do I need to send her location here to prove it?

Wolf: No, I trust you, I’m just surprised is all

Oracle: Sorry to rain on your parade here, there’s someone trying to hack my database, there’s not much in there, except for my findings on Sophie

Skull: For real?

Fox: It is concerning

Joker: Did you find anything about the hacker?

Oracle: Not much, only that it’s a she and her username is Juno

Noir: Could you please monitor the situation and report if anything happens

Oracle: Don’t need you to tell me

Wolf: Our dinner is ready, we’ll talk later

Joker: Ok, take care

\---------------------------

I took a bath before doing nothing by lying on bed looking at my phone. Not until dad knocked on my door to tell me dinner is ready.

I took a bite out of the fish first “Not bad, you actually didn’t burn the fish. But seriously, you need to learn and make something else, I’m getting tired of eating Obanzai.”

“I’m trying to, but you know my job, I don’t have much free time.” Dad explained, which is true,  _ but no matter how long you need, it’s been a year. _

He then decided to change topics “I think the school released you early today, you did come back rather late for a reason right?”

“I guess I’ll let it slide this time.” Normally I hate him talking with his investigative tone, but I guess today I’m quite forgiving, because I told him about Shika, and how I introduced her around the school today.

He grabbed his chin for a second, and asked me “How did she spell her name?” I typed out the kanji on my phone and showed him “Well, I guess I think too much.” I glared at him.  _ He’s playing detective again…  _ “Just don’t go overboard, or I am seriously ignoring you for at least a month.” which he backed down immediately and raised his hands in defeat “I kid, I kid.”

He’s always like this, making himself into such a fool, especially when cooking. But I guess that’s just how he rolls. I am still finding my way to interact with him, and I still can’t see him as my dad for most of the time. While sassing him is fun and all, I also feel like that this shouldn’t be the norm, but our relationship just kind of got stuck here. Sometimes I do wonder if we can repair the damage dealt to our relationship 2 years ago before I went to University.

I yawned after I finished my meal. “I think I’m going to sleep early.” I changed into my Pajamas, and went into the toilet and brushed my teeth. I looked at the mirror as I brushed, and for a split second, I saw my eyes are bright yellow.  _ I must be really tired if I saw things like that. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I put P5S and P5R on the same timeline, with P5S happening half a year after P5R. I did this because in P5S it references events happening in P5R (It’s at the start of the last dungeon, a line spoken by Morgana). And also leaving Kasumi and Akechi (or rather his legacy) out of the picture just wouldn’t do.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Pyra is in smash, along with her two *you-know-what* in all it's glory. Honestly I would really appreciate monolith put in the smash model as an aux core named "Perfect Pummeling Pyra" or something (name courtesy of Chugga), now that I think of it, it's not like it's inaccurate as well, she hit like a truck in smash and her level 9 CPU is already on the brink of giving me PTSD. Anyways enough rambling about smash, let's get on with the story!

2019/4/2

I woke up feeling another headache.  _ Ugh, what’s up with me and headaches, I don’t think I have that dream this time around.  _ I looked at the clock and saw 7:15, I went outside the room to brush my teeth, feeling extremely dizzy along the way.

Dad caught me in the middle of it “Woah, are you ok?”

I fuzzily answered “Uhh, I guess not?”

He put his palm on my forehead before I even realized it “It’s scorching hot.”

I tiredly laughed at him “I’d be dead if that’s the case.”

Dad however isn’t having any of it “You, go back to your bed, and I’ll call the school for sick leave.”

\---------------------------

I went and slept as I was told, and after a while, I heard some familiar words.

“ _ Why didn’t you come? It’s mom’s death Anniversary, what is more important than that?” _

_ “I’m sorry, I am very busy lately, but I never forgot-” _

_ “shut up!” _

_ I thought I had left that alone already _ , but here it is, taunting me in my sleep.

**_No you didn’t, nor should you._ ** A distinctively demonic and childish voice boomed inside my head

_ Who are you?  _ I thought in my head.

**_I’m you, and you are me._ **

_ Are you screwing with me because I’m bedridden? _

I could hear she snickered at me  **_How astute of you, or of me, hehe_ **

_ I seriously wanna say “you are not me” just because of that. _

**_Enough bullcrap, when are you going to take revenge for your DEAREST mother?_ **

_ Huh? _

**_Are you seriously content with those corrupt adults still out and about and screwing over everything?_ **

_ N-No, you are- _

**_Even your father, are you just content with him only taking in the head criminal and calling it a day?_ **

_ NO, YOU ARE WRONG!!! _

I used all the willpower I have to wake myself up, and ran out onto the streets to keep myself awake.  _ Can’t whine at me if I’m not asleep. _

I wandered around the streets for who knows how long, at least until the sun is on top of me. Something strange was noticed outside the Kyoto Imperial Palace while I kept walking around, which is a hole suspended in mid air, and inside the hole is another place all together.  _ Is this what we call in stories a portal?  _ I went closer to inspect it, but as I do, my body suddenly uncontrollably jerked into the portal.

**_Gotcha._ **

\---------------------------

I woke up in the portal, with my forehead in pain  _ Owww, That hurts.  _ I yelled out to the voice “It’s your fault isn’t it?”

“ **Why of course.”**

_Something’s changed,_ _It’s not inside my head, it’s more.. distant._ I looked to the source of the voice, and I saw something I definitely didn’t think it was possible for me to see.

I saw a younger version of myself, with quite the costume. She is wearing a top hat with a black star on top of a red ribbon, a black bird mask, her usual short hair with a red finish, a pair of bright yellow eyes, a red/crimson dress with her belly exposed, with an undone black short sleeved trench coat. Another red sleeve covering the supposedly exposed arm. Ending with black stockings and red shoes.

I am not trusting my eyes to see properly. “Are you me? Or a younger version at least. Or am I hallucinating?”

“ **I said it before and I’ll say it again, I am you, and you are me. Is there any part of it you don’t understand?”**

“Everything, I left those thoughts about dad to rot years ago, Why are they haunting me again?”

_ “ _ **Because you didn’t leave them, you just refused to face them and just call it a day.”**

“No…”

“ **You know deep down, you are still hating him.”**

“No...”

_ “ _ **Just let MY rage take over, might as well be true to yourself for once.”**

“NO…”

_ “ _ **Until all the evil in this crappy world is smited by my hands!”**

“NO, YOU ARE NOT ME!!!”

Just as those words left my mouth, she suddenly oozes black matter as she laughs maniacally **“Hehehehehahahahahahah…. I see how it is, Let me show you how I can back my words for real!”**

Suddenly fatigue hit me like a truck, but I stood my ground against my shadow. I then saw a black figure with Orange frizzy hair jumped out of nowhere, and it’s someone I’d recognize instantly.

“Joker?”

She made an evil smile  **“I am a shadow, the true self. Let your anger power you and reclaim your supposed glory! My dearest joker, please smite that goody two shoes and teach her a lesson!”** She signalled by hand and Joker started to attack me.

I assumed my defensive stance  _ Good thing I learned some martial arts back then, but I would never imagined that I would use them against Joker… _ I was thinking how I would fight without a weapon, and something suddenly appeared in my right hand.

_ A Flail? Well it’s better than nothing. _

Joker(?) then tried slashing me with his dagger from my 7’o-clock direction, and I responded with me spinning in a circle with my flail, and forced him to break off his attack.  _ Nice, I might get used to this. _

I then went on the offensive against Joker, dashing and swinging my flail at him, which I got some hits, but his speed was too much for my tired body to handle, and sooner or later he got the initiative again.

I keep defending myself from Joker, and he hasn’t got a single slash on me. But he is going to wear me down because of my strength, which I don’t have much to begin with.  _ Crap, I don’t think I can go on much longer if this keeps up, gotta think fast. _

I looked around for something to take advantage of, and sooner or later I landed my eyes on my shadow self.

_ Sorry, I don’t really want to do it, but I don’t really have a choice. _

I dashed towards her, feigned to be attacking her.  **“What the- are you insane?”** I heard my shadow self scream at me, but I didn’t stop and swing my flail at her. What I managed to hit though, was Joker’s head, rushing in the way to block it for his master, which knocked him unconscious on the floor.

I capitalized on his unresponsiveness to beat him non-stop, until he disappeared into a cloud of black mist, disappearing into the air. “Man, it really doesn’t feel good beating up your childhood hero like that.” I muttered to myself.

“ **I lost, let’s end this quickly”** My shadow said indignantly while staring at me with hatred.

_ End this quickly?  _ It took me a second to get what she meant “You mean for me to end your life? Oh about that…”

I walked closer to my shadow, which is visibly shaking in fear, and on the verge of crying. I kneeled down to her height, and saw her closing her eyes bracing for impact. I sighed and flicked a finger at her forehead “Hey there dummy!”

She obviously wasn’t expecting this  **“What?”**

I smiled warmly and looked into her eyes “I don’t know much about this shadow business, but you are me right? Maybe that’s why you pointed out a part of me that I never want to legitimize” I looked away before continuing “Yes, I am still pissed off at dad, with how he did nothing until the Phantom Thieves paved his way for him. But I also think that everyone should be given a chance to correct themselves, and while there are rotten adults everywhere, I do trust dad to be able to catch them with their pants down.”

“ **Really? Are you sure?”**

I thought of dad again “Of course, he might be one hell of a dork, but he is really good at his job.”

She couldn’t hold it any longer, and started crying. I hugged her tightly, and soothed her back “Of course you are me, you don’t need to cry like that.”

She is crying too hard to say properly  **“I-I’m scared th-that you will just k-kill me off without a thought…”**

“I’m sorry that I gave off that impression” I stopped hugging her and looked her in the eye “But from now on, we are going to tackle the world together, sounds good?”

She wiped off her tears and smiled brightly **“Yes, absolutely!”**

Suddenly, my shadow started vanishing gradually with sparkles around her, and above her appeared a rather buff man with long golden hair, his eyes blindfolded, with his skin colour being split right down the middle between white on his left and black on the right, the tunic that he is wearing and the shield he has on the back also has the same treatment, he is holding up a golden scale on his left hand, and a dark purple sword on his right hand.

“ **I am Midir, let us judge the world together with impartiality in mind.”**

He then turned into a tarot card depicting the fool arcana, and started to float towards my chest. I feel him entering and welcoming him into me.  _ good to have you on board, Midir. _

I blushed in thought.  _ Am I really this cute back then?  _ Before I can go down this very interesting rabbit hole, fatigue hit me like a truck.  _ Must. Get. Back. To. Bed... _

\---------------------------

A familiar piano melody woke me up, and I noticed Igor with his uncomfortably long nose is in front of me again. He greeted me politely “Welcome to the Velvet Room.”

_ I guess that meant I’m sleeping right now. _ “Hey Igor, Is there a reason I’m here?”

He chuckled with his grin wider as ever “Of course, you have awakened to your power, or what is commonly called a Persona.”

I feel Midir’s presence when he says it “Oh you mean Midir?”

He nods “Precisely, a persona is like a mask for your soul, helping you through your daily interactions with other people. It’s form represents your inner thoughts.”

I wondered out loud “So my inner thoughts are to judge people impartially? Well I guess it made sense because of what happened before.”

“Our other services are involved with personas, just to keep you informed.”

“Ok, good to know, but one more question Igor, it’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask last time.”

“Yes?”

“Why is this room a spaceship?”

He chuckles lightly “This place adapts it’s form to each particular guest, for your information this room had been in the form of an elevator, a limousine, and a jail cell.”

“A jail cell? freaky.”

Igor handed her a key shaped object “Hold on to this, you can use this to come back to the velvet room in the future.”

I was rather confused “Um, ok.”

“Next time we meet, it will be of your own accord, and my assistant will also be present next time.”

_ By my own accord? What does he even mean? _ “I guess I’ll look forward to meeting your assistant”

He chuckles again ”Till we meet again..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give me some slack for using basically the P4 awakening style, it just fits the best out of all of the options that I came up with.
> 
> But on that note, we see miss badass here beating her own shadow with no help, and cheesed the hell out of “Joker”. I did consider having she just awaken to Midir spontaneously, but she has her own shitty past to deal with, which is kind of why I picked her as the protag in the first place. Anyways, please look forward to the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SDomino09: Didn't realize that I need to approve your comment, sorry about that :P Midir comes from Celtic mythology, it's the god of judgement. And I must testify that I lifted this straight from Wikipedia, If you want to read up on the source material and correct me back, please do, and I'll ensure that will be approved quickly as well
> 
> Spent the week playing a phone game that I completed in my high school days. Where the full game is free and the dlc have real content. Ahh, how things are simple back then. Enough reminiscing, PM me if you want to know which game I’m talking about, let’s get going!

2019/4/3

I woke up this morning feeling more refreshed than ever, but my stomach was howling rather loud. _ Oh right, I didn’t eat lunch or dinner yesterday. _

As I went to cook breakfast and lunch, I noticed a note stuck on the table.

“ _ Akane, _

_ Sorry to leave you when you are sick, but I got a job to do. I should be back after a week, find your grandparents next door if you need anything. Your living expenses are already transferred into your account. Take care. _

_ dad” _

_ Knew he wouldn’t stay for long. _ I thought as I kept cooking.

\---------------------------

I entered the classroom and took out my phone, I then noticed Shika tried to find me to hang out with after school.  _ I guess I’m too busy sleeping to respond to her. _

“Sorry for not responding to you, I got sick yesterday.”

I replied to her and tucked away my phone, and noticed the darker skinned boy is walking in my direction.

“Excuse me, Hasegawa-san is it?” He asked politely, I also returned politely “Yes, what would be me, how can I help you?”

“You took sick leave yesterday right? It’s important to stay healthy you know.”

It took me a while to register that someone just came up to me and told me to stay healthy, long enough for him to notice “Umm, sorry, did I say something wrong?”

I scrambled for words to stop this from becoming a misunderstanding “Nonono! It’s fine, I just thought of something else!” I took a deep breath to calm myself down. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

“My name is Miura Eisaku, nice to meet you.” He introduced himself with a hearty smile.

“I am Hasegawa Akane, nice to meet you too. I remember you said the day before that you like to play football.” His face changed instantly “I’ve always been somewhat interested in football, at least the rules are not as convoluted like baseball.”

His face brightened up “Oh, a potential player!” His eyes brimming with excitement “How may I inform you of the amazing sport that is our lord and savior football?”

_ What the-  _ I was taken off guard by his sudden change in speech “What the heck was that?”

Eisaku rubbed the back of his head “Sorry, I get super excited when I talk about football”

_ That’s understatement of the year material.  _ I giggled at his antics “It’s fine, being quirky isn’t against the law.”

He laughed with me, trying to make this less awkward “Me being sorry aside, can we hang out to talk about football?”

_ I guess that’s fine, he won’t bite.  _ “Why don’t we jog by the riverside after school today? I actually wanna work out a little anyway.”

He quickly did a thumbs up “Sounds good to me.”

\---------------------------

As the last bell rang, I went over to change into my gym clothes, and I ran into Shika on the way.

She looked at me worried “Senpai, are you alright?”

I put her palm onto my forehead “Well, it’s rather wild, but I managed to recover with a lot of sleep.”

She regained her smile shortly after “That’s good to know, would you like to hang out today?”

I shook my head “Sorry Shika-chan, but I actually have something to do later.”

“That’s too bad, oh well, see you later!” She waves at me as she walks away.

\---------------------------

I finished changing my clothes and met at the front gate, and soon saw Eisaku walking over in his gym outfit.

I am wearing a pinkish purple T-shirt, and some black sports tights with neon yellow lines. While he is wearing a white sports T-shirt, a pair of dark blue sporty shorts, and some football shoes.

What caught my eyes first is his legs, which I can’t see when he is wearing the long trousers from the school uniform. His legs are very muscular, and it’s like night and day compared to his torso.  _ I guess he isn’t lying when he said he did a lot of football. _

“Hey there Eisaku-kun, ready to go?” I greeted him. However he stopped at a distance looking at me.

That made me quite uncomfortable, so I questioned him “What’s your deal?”

He snapped his eyes into mine instantly and blushing slightly “O-oh, uhh, I don’t do sports with a girl very often.”

I looked at him judgmentally for a few seconds, then giggled at him “Well if that’s true, then you better get used to it.”

We then jogged all the way to the riverside, and jogged up and down the river for a few times. Having Eisaku next to me really put me on my limit, it kind of made me get more competitive. It doesn’t help that back then I only jogged until my mind cleared, not until I’m gonna fall any second.

Jogging over 3 times the distance than I usually did surprised myself quite a lot, but I soon reached my limit and had to raise my hands in defeat.

I barely huffed out a coherent sentence “I’m beat, can we take a rest?”

“I’m fine with that, but you are not too shabby either.” Eisaku answered while jogging in place.

_ He is still jogging?  _ I caught my breath before answering “I did jog a lot back then, to free my mind from the crap that’s been thrown at me.”

“Sounds rough, I’ll give you that.”

I figured I’d ask while resting “So what is it with you and football?”  _ So long as it kills more time... _

He suddenly warned me “It’s a long story, are you sure?” I nodded and he started telling me “When I am around 7 years old, I attended my first football class, and I had loved it ever since. Of course being in a football team with a bunch of like minded teammates helps, but what keeps me going is that I can actually improve when I put effort, unlike academics.” I covered a chuckle with a cough as he speaks “It just gives me the feeling of being successful at something.”

Honestly his story is pretty run of the mill, but the way he said it just persuaded me it’s real, in a way it’s hard to put into words. “Pardon my behaviour just now, but I honestly feel your enthusiasm is drowning me at this point.” He looks at me wide-eyed “I’m not joking, I do think it’s admirable to be able to do something you like so much.”

His eyes are glimmering at this point “Then are you going to try football sometime?”

_ Crap.  _ I put on an innocent face “Here I thought we would finish today before you would ask this question.”

He rolled his eyes “Seriously?”

“I just said your enthusiasm is literally drowning me.”

He glared at me, and I held both my hands up “Ok, I give up, do your worst.”

His glimmering eyes came back almost immediately while he then started to explain the rules of football, with all the enthusiasm I had feared. He is like a completely different person while he’s doing something related to football.

“Sorry for being a downer, but it does sound dangerous, I’d like to have my body not covered in bruises” Eisaku looked like down in the dumps as I broke it out to him.

But that’s not it “However I am now very curious about watching football matches.” and his face visibly lit up like the bright sun once again.

I deadpanned to him “Are you bipolar or something?”

He just laughed it off while scratching his back “I can’t help it, hehe”

I sighed before taking out my phone “Should we exchange numbers? So that we can contact each other more easily.”

He blushed before replying “Y-yes, of course.”

_ That’s all it takes?  _ I rolled my eyes at him as we exchanged numbers “You might as well use all the experience you can get with girls if you are blushing to that.”

“Well I can’t help it can I?” Still blushing while he’s trying to excuse himself.

“Anyways.” I put my hand forward for a handshake “You’re a nice guy.”

Eisaku took it with glee “Same over here”

\---------------------------

2019/4/4

I’d originally planned to sort out my clubs today, I finished my lunch early, so I might as well deal with it right now.  _ Ok, first is the Handicraft club, then it's the cooking club, and maybe the student council? I guess if I’m gonna do it, I might as well go big. And uhh, is there any-OWW! _

I bumped into Shika as I’m thinking in my head. “Owww, Shika are you o-” I stopped talking, I had to stop talking when I saw one thing.

Her eyes are bright yellow.

“Ah! Akane-senpai, I’m not feeling well, sorry about that.”

Internally I’m trying my best to not panic right now “It’s fine, do you have a fever?”

“I guess that’s rather obvious, I’m going to the office to register my early leave.”

I frowned “I hope you get well soon.”

As soon as I arrived at the classroom, I got to thinking.  _ That’s not good, it sounded chillingly similar to what I’ve gone through, if she is absent tomorrow I’m going to need to pay the portal a visit. _

Suddenly a hand was placed on my shoulders, I jolted at the source “Miura-san you are scaring the living daylights out of me.”

He counted with his fingers “Number 1, please call me Eisaku. Number 2, looks like you are having a bad time again.”

I thought about denying it, but it’s practically written on my face at this point “Yea, I am having a bad time.”

He put up a warm smile “So, wanna talk about it? I’m all ears.”

_ Might as well, since I’m stuck anyway, but I better paraphrase a little.  _ “I have a friend who got sick, and I am debating whether or not to go and see her.”

He asked almost instantly “Why not?”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, if you think that she needs your help, she probably needs it”

_ That’s a little bit presumptuous, but I get what he means now.  _ “I think that cleared my mind a little.”

He replied with a straight face “No problem, it’s for you after all.”

There’s a few seconds of silence between us.

_ Did he really just… ugh.  _ I facepalmed at him “Look, I know you don’t mean it that way, but can you please word it a little bit better?”

He also facepalmed, presumably in shame “I’m promise I’m not going to do that again, I promise!”

“It’s fine, I’m going back home now, see you tomorrow.”

\---------------------------

2019/4/5

After going to Shika’s classroom and confirming her absence, I went over to the portal immediately after the last bell rang.

_ Did no one really see this? It’s just next to the entrance.  _ I asked mentally as I entered the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we got a football guy, and an oblivious one at that, and also our second team member is coming up. It's really fun for Akane isn't it? Not even a single day has past and now her friend is getting screwed over by shadows as well. Keep coming for more next week to see how Akane deal with it!


End file.
